1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the art of cabinet door hinges and to the method of assembling cabinets for the purposes of applying a surface coating to the cabinet frames and doors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mass produced kitchen cabinets and similar cabinets often have the cabinet doors fastened to the cabinets with hinges prior to the cabinet and doors undergoing coating operations during which material such as stain, lacquer, and shading coatings are applied. It is frequently desirable that the hinges be of the type which can be adjusted on the frame to obtain proper alignment of the doors and to regulate clearances. Thus many of the hinges used are provided with slots rather than circular holes for the screw fasteners so the hinge leafs can be adjusted relative to either the frame or the door. However, where the hinges have been installed on the door and frame before the finishing operation, the shifting of a hinge leaf relative to either the door or the frame results in an exposure of unfinished "white" wood where the leaf has been shifted off of the unfinished "white" wood area in the adjustment.
In addition to the problem of the exposure of "white" wood during minor adjustment of the cabinet doors with respect to all types of kitchen cabinets, another problem relating to door reversal exists with respect to base kitchen cabinets which are manufactured with a toe space at the bottom front. Thus the cabinet cannot be inverted if it is desired to reverse the direction of door opening for a single door base cabinet. Of course it would be possible to reverse while the hinge mounting can be reversed to obtain an opposite side fastening, this leaves unfinished areas on the frame where the frame leaf of the hinge was mounted.
In accordance with our invention, we have devised a modified semi-concealed, wrap-around type hinge which can be used in a way that permits substantially all of the frame area to receive a surface coating and in which the door is held partly open to facilitate the coating operations to obtain the economic benefits of a substantially premounted arrangement during the surface coating operations.